


The Fall Of The Ostwick Circle

by RoguesCorner



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Circle Mages, Gen, Original Characters - Freeform, Pre-Dragon Age: Inquisition, Trevelyan Family here we go, mostly OC"s but one of my favourite works ever???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-22 06:36:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20869805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoguesCorner/pseuds/RoguesCorner
Summary: Kirkwall has gone to hell, the circles are rebelling and slowly across Thedas mages are starting to feel the repercussions. Audrey, Scott and Reeve, cousins among the Trevelyan family and both mages and a templar living within Ostwick Circle can feel the tension in the air as it all comes to ahead.AKA, this piece is a look at what could have happened at Ostwick within my own Inquisition game.





	The Fall Of The Ostwick Circle

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> This has been one of my favourite pieces around several Trevelyan Inquisitors of mine and a friend (Mavis, whos brother Reeve is here, Audrey and Scott), kinda a re-telling of what happened in Ostwick based around those individual trevs, enjoy!

The Grand Library of the Ostwick circle was something to behold. Its towering walls filled to the brim with books and tomes as old as the building itself, the stained glass windows stretching from floor to ceiling and the slight smell of warm cinnamon always seemed to linger inside. For Audrey, it was the calmest and most peaceful area of the whole tower. It was quiet and void of many Templars, or at least the cruel ones who had their fun by picking on the younger Circle members. Those Templars she did like still lingered, not that she minded.

Squeezing past two mages, Audrey pushed into the Library’s main common room, filled with long tables and lanterns for evening reading. The books in her arms slipped against her robes as she struggled to keep them up. Picking up the pace to avoid dropping any of them on her foot, she nearly slammed them down on the table and onto the papers of the mage next to her. He looked over at what she had been carrying, a smile growing on his face before he shook his head.

“Some light reading I suppose?” He asked, watching her separate the books into two different piles.

“Very funny Reeve.” She said, flipping between the pages of the largest one. “Not everyone is done their studies you know.”  
  
Reeve chuckled, pushing his short auburn hair back up before dipping the quill in his left hand into more ink. Audrey glanced at the paper in front of him, eyes skimming over the words and the length of what he had been writing.

“Who are you writing to?”

“The White Spire. With what has happened in Kirkwall I’m sure the Aequitarians there aren't too happy about it. I got in contact with one of the fraternities leaders, Rhys, and I’m hoping for his opinions on the matter-”

Audrey nodded, only half-listening. Reeve had always wanted the mages to be free people, governed only by themselves and no one else. Whenever he started on another passionate rant, she knew he could go for hours. She tried to listen, she really did. Audrey saw it as an admirable goal, to free all of the mages, though she wasn’t sure where she stood on the matter. They had power unlike any other people in Thedas. They needed something or someone to teach them to be in control. Though the Templars might not always be the answer, she thought to herself, tracing the scar above her eyebrow, a reminder of what some of their protectors were capable of. They were still better than nothing.

“-The thing is if we want to make a difference we can’t go blindly in with violence. That only grows more violence, don’t you think Audrey? ...Audrey?”

“Yes, sorry. Um. What was the question again?” She asked, sitting up and pushing her hair behind her ears.

Reeve sighed, leaning back in his chair. “It’s nothing I suppose.”

“Can you blame the girl? You do go on for ages.”

The two looked up at the man in the shining templar armour standing in front of the table, his arms crossed and a lopsided grin creeping onto his lips, twisting the three long scars running across his face.

“Scott!” Audrey said, smiling at her friend and cousin’s arrival. “You finished your patrols early?”

“Thankfully, yes. Maker, my feet are aching,” he said, taking a seat across from them. “Feels like my own personal blight has started in the soles of my shoes.”

Reeve snorted at his comment, returning to his letter. “Oh, you poor doll.”

“Some of us don’t have the luxury of being able to sit all day if we wish,” he said, making Reeve let out a faint chuckle. With a few flicks of his quill, he had finished and signed the letter. Folding it neatly he passed it to Scott.

“Do you think you’d be able to pass this along the next time the caravan comes? I know it does deliveries.”

“The Spire?” Scott asked for confirmation, looking the letter over. Reeve nodded as Scott tucked it away into one of the small pouches attached to his belt.

“Thank you.” He cleaned up his papers and messily stuffed them into his bag. Audrey watched as Scott’s eyes wandered over to a few of the mages who sat at the table next to them, the group side-eyeing the three of them. Audrey could always hear them whispering.

“...I heard they are all related…”

“...friends with the Knight-Corporal, ugh, unheard of…”

“...It’s because of people like that…”

Scott’s eyes narrowed at the group when he heard them, and the mages looked away quickly, returning to their studies. Tapping his fingers on the wood he turned back to Reeve who was getting ready to leave.

“Hey, Reeve, have you noticed the… well, the tension in the air lately?”

“You’ve got to be more specific. There is always tension in the air with all the mana around.”

Scott sighed. “No, I mean between the mages and templars. It’s worse than usual.”

“Your point, cousin?” Reeve asked, leaning his forearm on the table.

“Just... watch out, okay? I have a bad feeling is all.”

“Maybe it’s just all that cheese you stole and ate in one sitting,” Reeve said, getting up from the table with his things.

“You promised you wouldn’t tell!” Scott yelled after the man as he left, Reeve just laughing. Audrey giggled in her seat, still skimming the pages of her books. She glanced back up at the mages who been starring earlier, their eyes following Reeve as he left the library. Her gut twisted with worry. Maybe Scott was right. Something felt off.

__

Being violently shaking awake was not what Audrey had expected to happen when she fell asleep that night. Immediately awake, pulse racing and adrenaline coursing through her veins she shot up in bed.

“Reeve? What’s wrong?”

His sharp face was twisted with worry, one hand on his staff and the other on her shoulder.

“Get your things, we need to leave.”  
  
“What?” She asked, getting out of bed and grabbing the satchel Scott had gotten her for her birthday several years ago. “Reeve, what’s going on?” Her voice cracked on the last word.

“They’re rebelling. The fighting started only moments ago.”

Audrey froze, bag in hand, staring at him. “What?” She hissed through clenched teeth. They couldn’t - they would be slaughtered, the Circle would be turned into a bloodbath in minutes. She looked at the satchel clenched in her hands, knuckles turning white from her grip.

“Reeve, we have to get Scott.” She said, voice nothing more than a whisper. “They’ll kill him without a thought- Maker, Reeve, they’ll kill him.”

Reeve ran a hand through his short hair, taking a deep breath before throwing the doors to the wooden wardrobe they shared, open. Audrey watched as he rummaged around before he pulled out a thin, white staff. He passed it to Audrey, his hand resting on hers in a show of reassurance as her fingers wrapped around the wooden staff.

“Then I hope you’re ready for a fight.”

She nodded, pushing down the fear rising in her chest that made it harder and harder to breathe. She had to focus, had to keep her head up. They had to find Scott in this chaos before anyone else did.

Outside of their room, the sound of distant fighting could be heard. Metal scrapping against the stone, the fizzing of fire, shattering of ice, and crackle of sparks. The fighting was closer than Audrey had thought. One hand on her staff, the other in Reeve’s as he ran, pulling her along down the corridor. She struggled not to trip on her robes. Stopping only once to hide from a passing group of Templars, the two kept running. Worry started to grow with every extra step Audrey took. They hadn’t seen him yet. With the size of the tower, would they ever find him?

“Wait,” Reeve said, finally coming to a slower pace at the end of the hall. Audrey gasped for air, taking a deep breath. When was the last time she had run like that? Reeve moved slowly, approaching the corner of the corridor, listening for more fighting. Finally, after several moments of nothing, he turned Audrey at his heel.

Scott stood among three mages lying on the floor, not dead, stunned or unconscious. He was panting, a line of sweat on his forehead that seeped into the roots of his hair. He swept back the dark curls before turning, eyes locking with Reeve’s as he raised his sword.

“Scott, it’s just us. We aren’t going to hurt you.” Reeve spoke calmly, taking a step forward. It took the other man a second to recognize the faces before him, but when his eyes lit up he almost dropped his sword.

“Maker, you’re alive! I thought-” He stopped, voice shaking.

“We’re fine,” Reeve said, putting a hand on Scott’s shoulder, making the man relax. “But we need to get out of here. The fighting isn’t going to stop and if we stay behind, either the mages will kill you or the Templars will kill us.”

Scott nodded in agreement and Audrey almost let out a sigh of relief. She hadn’t doubted him, but for almost a moment when they had been running, she wondered if he would choose the Order over his family. Looking over Reeve’s shoulder, he glanced at her.  
“Hey pup, you doing alright-”

“Shite!”

At his shout, Reeve had placed himself in front of the other man, throwing a thin, wispy barrier over the three of them. The fire that had been coming at them crackled and smoked against the green wall separating him and the group of mages standing down the hall. Scott’s face set, brows knitting together as he raised his sword to challenge them.

“No!” Reeve yelled, looking back at him. “Let me talk to them!”

“Are you serious?! They want to kill us, mate!” Scott shouted back, holding his stance.

“Scott, please. Let me talk to them.” The mage repeated, lowering the barrier and taking a few steps forward. The leader of the rebel mages didn’t move as Reeve approached.

The rebel sneered, his grip on his staff tightening. “Protecting a templar? How typical of you, Reeve.”

“Brothers, sisters, this violence will get us nowhere!” Reeve started, lowering his staff just a bit to show he meant no harm. “What will we gain by destroying the Circle and killing a few Templars? There will be no peace! No freedom for us mages after!”

“Says you!” another rebel yelled. “We all know how close you are with your Templar cousin!” She spat the last word and Reeve frowned.

Audrey’s pulse started to race as bile rose in her throat. She tried to call out, tell him to come back, leave them alone, but all the words caught behind her lips.  
  
“Then you see, we can have peace between templars and mages! No more blood must be shed tonight-”

“Enough!” The rebel leader yelled. Scott started to approach them, his sword rising slightly. “I refuse to listen to any more of this heresy!”  
  
Determined, Reeve took another step forward. “If you’ll only listen to reason, I know we can end this peacefully-” He finished with a yell of terror as the fire crackled from the rebel mage’s staff and flew into Reeve’s left arm, knocking his staff from his hands. Audrey screamed out, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Scott moved forward, a cry escaping his lips.

One of the mages sent back an arc of lightning towards her and Scott, and Audrey threw up a barrier, keeping the magic out, but the two of them in.

“Please!” Reeve yelled again, deflecting a spell with one of his own. But he was outnumbered, outmatched. “We can resolve this-” He screamed again as fire branded across his right cheek.

“Audrey, drop your barrier now!” Scott snapped. He was stuck watching as Reeve received blow after blow - he couldn’t stand by and just let it happen. He had to stop this.

“No.”

“What?!” Scott yelled, glaring back at the girl. Her arms were thrown up, keeping the barrier steady, but he could see the tremble in her knees and her bottom lip. She looked so small, her skin paler than usual and eyes wide in fear.

“I said no. I’m not letting them hurt you too.”

“Audrey-”

Scott looked away when he heard Reeve scream again, the mages practically on top of him now. He looked back at the two of them, tears forming in his eyes, the side of his face twisted and scarred from the burns.

“Get her out of here! Go!” He yelled, knocking back one of the rebels who tried to cast and break Audrey’s barrier.

“I’m not leaving you!” Scott called back, a slight crack in his voice. His sword wavered in his grasp.

“I don’t give a damn, I said go!” Reeve yelled. In his moment of distraction, the rebel leader sent another blast of fire, hitting Reeve in the side of his face. It spread as he cried out in anguish, hair burning and skin starting to bubble. Audrey dropped her barrier, body weak as she called out Reeve’s name over and over again. Terrified to watch, Scott turned, picking Audrey up by the waist and throwing her over his shoulder. She kept her eyes on her cousin, writhing on the floor, coughing and screaming as the skin on his face started to peel, pulling back, his eyes squeezed shut at the pain-

Then Scott turned the corner and that was the last she saw of Reeve.

Body going limp, he moved her into his arms like he was holding a small child as Audrey started to weep.

They moved through the rest of the Circle with ease, avoiding Templars and mages busy with their own fights. Surprisingly, the entrance was deserted. The Templars in charge of guarding it lay slaughtered across the grass, staining the ground red.

“Where are we going?” Audrey finally spoke, her voice hoarse.

“We have family in the city. They can keep us safe for the time being”

“That’s Reeve’s home,” She whispered like she had been thinking aloud.

“Yeah, it is.”

“His sister lives there, and his two brothers Maker” Audrey remembered the times he had spoken about her or had been working on letter’s home.

Scott put her down on the ground, Audrey’s shoulders still shaking and tear stains covering her cheeks. He leaned down so he could be eye level with the girl.

“I… I know this hasn't been easy for you. For either of us. I’m sorry for pushing you, but we have to keep going.”

“Scott, I miss him already,” She said, hiccuping through her words. Scott pulled her into a tight hug, his gloved hand running over the back of her head in an attempt to comfort her.

“I know. I miss him, too. We’ll keep each other safe now, okay?”

She nodded against his shoulder, breaking from the hug, and together they set off towards the Trevelyan house of Ostwick. 


End file.
